1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle shift control apparatus for a transmission. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle shift control apparatus where the transmission is arranged between an engine and a drive wheel for shifting gears by executing a clutch switch operation (connecting and disconnecting clutches) so as to change a drive transmission path.
2. Background Information
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-040409 discloses a twin-clutch automatic manual transmission in which a plurality of gears is divided into an odd numbered gear group and an even numbered gear group. The twin clutch automatic manual transmission has a first clutch that is connected when a gear in the odd numbered gear group is selected and a second clutch that is connected when a gear in the even numbered gear group is selected.
When this twin clutch automatic manual transmission downshifts from a second gear to a first gear while the vehicle is coasting, the first gear is put into a selected state in advance and the shift operation is completed by releasing the second clutch and connecting the first clutch so as to change from the even gear (second gear) to the odd gear (first gear). This release of the second clutch and connection of the first clutch is called a clutch switch operation.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle shift control apparatus. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.